1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vessel propulsion apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Outboard motors include engines that generate power and engine cowlings that house the engines. Wiring and piping are disposed in the interior of the engine cowlings. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-25004 discloses piping 100 that is disposed in a cowling. As shown in FIG. 12, the piping 100 extends from a silencer case 131 of an intake system 130 to the vicinity of a pulley 123 passing by the left side of a flywheel 125.
In the outboard motor, downsizing of the engine cowling that houses the engine is demanded in some cases. In some other cases, it is demanded to increase the power of the outboard motor that will lead to an increase in the size of the engine. Thus, conflicting demands of an increase in the size of the engine and downsizing of the engine cowling are sometimes made.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-25004, the piping 100 extends in the front-rear direction on the left side of the engine main body. In this configuration, when the cowling is downsized, the piping may wear or be damaged due to sliding of the cowling and piping, because the inner surface of the cowling approaches the piping. Therefore, it is difficult to downsize the cowling. In particular, when the engine main body is increased in size, the piping approaches the inner surface of the cowling, so that it is more difficult to downsize the cowling. In some situations, an increase in the size of the engine cowling is thus required.